Lebanon has asked the UN to help investigate the assassination of an anti-Syrian parliamentarian and others killed by a car bomb yesterday.
Antoine Ghanem of the Christian Phalange party was the seventh anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on 14 February 2005.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council had condemned the attack.
The UN commission already established to investigate the murder of Mr Hariri would need Security Council authorisation to help in the Ghanem case, but UN officials said that based on past experience, the Council was likely to agree.
Meanwhile, the head of that commission, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, is to step down in December.
Mr Ban will now have to seek a replacement for the position, who will become the case's prosecutor before the international tribunal that will try eventual suspects.
At least seven others died and 30 were injured by yesterday's bomb in the commercial and residential area of Sin el-Fil.
US President George W Bush condemned the 'cowardly attack' and said Washington stood in solidarity with the Lebanese people against what he called an attempt by Syria and Iran to destabilize Lebanon.
Mr Ghanem, 64, was a member of the anti-Syrian governing coalition, which has been locked in a power struggle since November with factions backed by Damascus, including the group Hezbollah.
Mr Ghanem's death reduced the coalition to 68 seats in the 128-seat parliament, which is only three more than the absolute majority of 65 seats it needs to win votes.
The house is due to convene next week to elect a successor to President Emile Lahoud.
